Too Much Protein?

I would like some advice concerning the diet I am feeding my Cotons. They are 1 1/2 yrs old and 2 yrs old. One is 10 lbs and the other is 15 lbs.

I give them each 1/2 can of Chicken Soup for Dogs each evening. To this I add for each of them 1 small boneless skinless chicken thigh chopped up and stirred into the canned food. They also get Natures Variety Instince Chicken Meal Formula Dry Food. They probably eat about 1/3 cup per day each of the dry.

My question is - could I be givinig them too much protein by adding the fresh chicken to the canned food? They seem to be healthy and very active.

Over supplying protein at a very young age can cause some problems but at their age i don't think it will be a problem.

I prefer dogs to be on a complete and balanced diet like Hills or Eukanuba as they are quality products that have a proven track record. But if she looks great and is healthy then keep up the good work

Thanks for your quick reply - and by the way thanks for responding to my other post concerning agression with my Coton - Pistol. I will take it all to heart and let you know how we progress.

About the dog food - you said too much protein at an early age could cause problems. Would they be ongoing problems later in life, because I have been feeding them the x-tra chicken since they were just a few months old?

I guess I am surprised you would recommend Hill's. There is a website that reviews dog food and gives analysis. The Nature's Variety I am feeding is one of their 6 Star Foods and Chicken Soup is a 3 Star Food. But Eukabanka is not even rated because they don't recommend it.

Here is what they say about Hill's. This is just one of the Hill's varieties, but if you do a search on all of them, none of them are good:

Review Date: Sun March 5, 2006 Would you recommend the product? No | Price you paid?: Not Indicated | Rating: 0

Pros: Third ingredient is a named meat product. Cons: Inadequate meat content, use of low quality grains, fat of unidentifiable origin, soy, other controversial filler.

The first two ingredients in this food are low quality grains. Brewers rice is a by-product of the alcohol industry for which the AAFCO definition is “the dried extracted residue of rice resulting from the manufacture of wort (liquid portion of malted grain) or beer and may contain pulverized dried spent hops in an amount not to exceed 3 percent.”

The use of wheat is a significant negative: wheat is believed to be the number one cause of allergy problems in dog food. This is another ingredient we prefer not to see used at all in dog food.

The third ingredient is a named meat product in meal form. This meat product is too far down the ingredient list to constitute an adequate amount of meat. There is a further meat product, beef, 8th on the ingredient list but since this is chicken inclusive of its water content (about 80%) and this ingredient will weigh only about 20% of its wet weight once water is removed (as it must be to make kibble) it is likely that this ingredient would be more accurately placed much further down the ingredient list and does not make up any appreciable portion of the food.

Animal fat is a further low quality ingredient and is impossible to determine the source. Unidentified ingredients are usually very low quality. AAFCO define this as "obtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative".

Corn gluten meal is another low quality ingredient. Corn is a problematic grain that is difficult for dogs to digest and thought to be the cause of a great many allergy and yeast infection problems. We prefer not to see this used in dog food. The AAFCO definition of corn gluten meal is "the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm". In plain English, that which remains after all the nutritious bits have been removed.

Soy is a poor quality source of protein in dog food, and a common cause of allergy problems. Some believe that it is the number 1 cause of food allergies in dogs (outstripping even wheat).

Beet pulp is filler and a controversial ingredient – it is a by-product, being dried residue from sugar beets which has been cleaned and extracted in the process of manufacturing sugar. It is a controversial ingredient in dog food, claimed by some manufacturers to be a good source of fibre, and derided by others as an ingredient added to slow down the transition of rancid animal fats and causing stress to kidney and liver in the process. We note that beet pulp is an ingredient that commonly causes problems for dogs, including allergies and ear infections, and prefer not to see it used in dog food. There are less controversial products around if additional fibre is required.

Great website that i haven't come across yet. I recommend Hills based on the research they have done. They have over 1000 vets constantly running trials. It is the most trialed food available and meets and exceeds expectations in AFFCO feeding trials.

Feeding trials are essential for any food and Hills is one of only a few diets that trial all their foods.

Eukanuba is much the same but some say palatability is higher.

I base on my recomendations on AFFCO based data because it is unbiased and very accurate.

They also make a point about soy protein that i disagree with. Firstly it is a good source of protein and secondly the two highest causes of food allergy are dairy and beef protein.

But if your guys are doing great then i wouldn't upset things by changing. Also i wouldn't worry too much about how much protein they got as they were growing they need other issues to compound this problem to cause anything

Ok - thanks for that input. I guess the dog-food subject is kind of like the dog-training subject. There are a lot of voices out there and it is hard to know who is right. But like you said, my guys seem to be doing well, so guess I won't worry. I have pretty well spoiled them to having the fresh chicken in their food and as long as it is not hurting them, I don't mind giving it to them.